


But if the story’s over (why am i still writing pages)

by Bughead_19



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I'm a slut for angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-14 23:54:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21024323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bughead_19/pseuds/Bughead_19
Summary: Betty and Jughead have a hard time staying away from each other.





	But if the story’s over (why am i still writing pages)

**Author's Note:**

> title from Death By a Thousand Cuts by Taylor Swift. This is just a drabble, and quite possibly terrible, but it can't be any worse than a lot of terrible things on this website. Optimism!

“Can I call you” the message reads. He recognized the number. He had deleted her contact. It was easier for him that way. 

He looked at his surroundings. He was in the back, not important to this meeting, but it was small enough that him slipping out quietly would be hard. Especially with Tall Boy and Sweet Pea giving him hell lately. 

“Give me like 2 minutes” he texted back, sighing at his own weakness. 

He waited until Sweet pea and Tall boy started fighting, probably over who’s ego was bigger, before he slipped out the door. All those years of sneaking out once his father was asleep paying off. 

“Hey” he said, cursing himself.

“I’m sorry” she said. She sounded like she was in tears. It hits him harder than he expects it to, their estrangement not softening the blow. 

“Hey, it’s okay. What happened.” he said softly.

“Nothing, nothing I’m sorry” 

“Betty”

“It’s actually nothing, it’s just my mom and Chic left to do some bonding so they’re gone until tomorrow” She was still crying. 

It took him a second to remember Archie mentioning Hal was never there anymore. “Are you home alone?”

“Yeah” she said, starting to sob. “This is so silly. It’s like I'm back to being six.” 

He remembered her being about seven and the Blossom twins showing her a slenderman video, she refused to sleep alone for months. She confessed to him once, back when they were still together that she still was freaked out by it. 

“Hey, calm down, I get it. It’s been a crazy few months.” he paused for a second ‘I can come over. If it would help”. God he was pathetic. He couldn’t stay on his side of the line he drew in the sand. 

She was crying even harder now, barely forming coherent sentences. His heart broke with every sob, “No I really don’t-”

“Betty, I only have my bike with me I need to hang up. Are you gonna be okay”

She manages to get out a yes and he stops himself from saying “Love you” replacing it with the more situationally appropriate “Stay safe.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Betty sits on her bed, blankets wrapped around her like a cloak. The same way she and Polly used to as kids. Every light in her room is on, but she doesn’t dare venture to the rest of the house. 

She hears a faint rustling from the outside of the house and she grabs the knife from her drawer. It’s been there since the letter.She squeezes her eyes shut, praying it’s just an owl, or Jughead. 

She hears her window creak open, followed by a soft “Betty” and she lets the breath she didn’t know she was holding out. 

She drops the knife to the bedside table, rushing over to him. She throws her arms around his neck, sobbing into his shirt. He rubs her back softly. She can’t even think of the last time someone comforted her.

He whispers promises that it’ll be okay. She doesn’t think it will be, but she appreciates the sentiment. They stay that way for awhile. Him holding her pathetic little body. The one that kept running back to a man that was probably done with her. 

She pulls away for a minute. His shirt is stained with tears. “I’m sorry I made you come all the way over here over nothing.”

“Betty, you were tortured by a serial killer for weeks. It’s completely understandable for you to be this scared of being alone. I don’t know-”

She knew him enough to tell he was going to say something about Alice but thought better of himself. 

“She shouldn’t have to drop her life to protect me” 

The “neither should you” is left unsaid, hanging above them.

He pulls her in closer and she revels in the warmth of the gesture, even though his hands are cold. Jughead never was a very hug-y person, save for Archie occasionally and her back before everything went to shit. She lets herself begin to cry again. 

“Can you stay” she’s shocked to hear it come out of her own mouth. She means it, she’s not sure if she can take being in this silent house all night, but she’s still surprised she says it. 

“Yeah, I can stay. But it’s late, you should probably sleep.”

She nodded. It was only about midnight, but she was exhausted and her body begged for rest. 

She feels a cruel sense of deja vu. Him in her room near the window. He’d called her Juliet and sure enough they’d met their tragic end. 

“I know it’s weird but do you mind if I take my pants off? So I don’t have to sleep in my jeans.”

She almost giggled at the absurdity of the situation, but she nods her head anyway. The thought that he’s quite possibly with Toni strikes her, but she can’t care. Nothing non-platonic was going to happen. They were still friends after all.

She sits on her bed, making enough room for him to climb in after her.  
\---------------------------------------------------------

They lie facing each other. Her face is streaked with tears. He’s trying not to cry. 

“Is it always like this” he questions. 

She nods. “It’s not usually this bad. It’s just when you’re alone-”

“It’s suffocating” Because he understands. He sees the bullet going through Jason’s head, and his knife cutting through Penny’s arm whenever the trailer’s empty,dark, and quiet. 

“Yeah.”

He sighs. Not knowing what else to do. He wants to hold her in his arms, kiss her and tell her they’d get through this. But there is no them. All the books and movies he’d watched hadn’t prepared him for how much love hurts. 

“God i’m a mess aren’t I” 

“Betty, I’m sitting pantsless in my ex girlfriends bed, on the verge of tears” He adds, if only to make her feel a bit better “and I haven’t washed my beanie in like a month. We’re all messes”

She giggles. It sounds genuine. He hopes it is. 

Jughead reaches over and wipes a tear from her cheek. The action feels a bit too intimate, and her half shut eyes begin to well up with tears. 

“Why are we doing this to each other Jug.” 

He can feel a tear roll down his face. “I don’t know.” He just needs to make sure she’s safe. He can’t take not passing her in the hallways, even if she can’t be his. He scoots closer, resting his chin above her head and holding her close. Her arms wrap around him, despite how angry she must be. 

“I don’t want it to stick” she cries.

“I don’t either” 

“I wish I could hate you Jughead Jones” she whispers, before her breathing starts to slow. 

He sits with her in his arms as she falls asleep. He can’t persuade himself to do the same. When he’s sure she’s asleep, he whispers, so quietly he’s not sure she would have heard it if she was awake. 

“I love you”


End file.
